Officials show leadership in plan to share DeWitt police coverage

SYRACUSE 20/20 congratulates Mayor Danny Liedka and the village board of East Syracuse for proactively identifying ways to modernize local government services for the village. We commend the town of DeWitt for its willingness to enter into a good-faith discussion about how to sustain policing in the village and partnering to develop more efficient service delivery.

The proposal to abolish the village police department and to have police protection provided by the town of DeWitt will now be put to a vote of the village residents in a public referendum Oct. 16. Similar to the Clay police/sheriff's department merger vote in 2008, we see this as another example of how local governments can provide essential government services in a cost-effective manner by sharing resources and achieving economies of scale.

Mayor Liedka and the village board are demonstrating leadership by acknowledging that the current path for the village is not sustainable. East Syracuse is not the only local government facing serious revenue and expense imbalances. We need more visionaries throughout our local governments who are willing to challenge the status quo and do what is in the best interest of the taxpayer by innovating how they deliver services.

Change takes courage and commitment. In these deeply troubling fiscal times, fear of change cannot prevent us from searching for new and more effective ways to deliver high-quality services throughout our region. The village of East Syracuse and town of DeWitt serve as an important model of how local governments will need to work together to modernize local government services. We are certain that there are many other opportunities that can and will be considered in the months ahead.

We think many residents of Onondaga County would agree that we need to see more vision and leadership in the area of modernizing our local governance structures to ensure that they are cost effective, efficiently run and sustainable.